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March 2023 Issue

March 23 Research Roundup

 

Contents

Introduction. 1

Research Cultures Colloquium.. 2

Timeframes for Research Funding applications. 3

Call for Papers: The Issue of Truth: Representing Black British History. 3

University of London Press secures funding through Jisc pilot open access initiative. 4

UKRI Future Leaders Fellows: Round 8. 4

Directory of Research and Expertise. 5

Research Professional 5

Funding Opportunities. 6

 

Introduction

We’d like to open this edition by welcoming Kingsley Abbott, the incoming Director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. Kingsley has more than 20 years’ experience of working with international non-governmental organisations, the United Nations and domestic legal practice. For the past nine years he has been based in Thailand, where he served the International Commission of Jurists as the Director of Global Accountability and International Justice. During this time, he developed and led numerous human rights and rule of law initiatives in Asia and around the world.

Prior to that, he worked for the United Nations as a Senior Legal Officer at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Cambodia and a Trial Counsel in the Office of the Prosecutor at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the Hague. He also practiced as a criminal barrister in New Zealand where he worked alongside a leading Queens Counsel, appearing in the District Court, High Court and Court of Appeal on numerous matters for both the defence and prosecution including several trials where the charge was murder.

 
Other Staff News: We’d also like to welcome:
Gabriel Bayarri, Newton International Fellow, ILCS
Elisa Bianchi, Postdoctoral Researcher, WI
John Duncan, Project Administrator, ICwS
Ben Fried, Newton International Fellow, IES
Corinne Harrison, Officer, Future Leaders Fellows Development Network, IP
Hannah Lee, British Academy Post-Doctoral Fellow, WI
Gianmarco Mancosu, British Academy Post-Doctoral Fellow, ILCS
William Nixon, Deputy Executive Director, Research Libraries UK
Odile Panetta, Lecturer in Cultural and Intellectual History, WI
Annie Sherratt, Academic Projects and Partnerships, SAS-Central


Successful Funding applications
Congratulations to the following staff on their recently announced successful applications for research funding:

  • Gabriel Bodard - Co-I on the Exeter University-led 'Connecting Late Antiquities' AHRC UK-German Collaborative Research Projects scheme.

  • Ainhoa Montoya - Leading 'Building a Transnational Community of Practice: Writing and Researcher Development in Latin America and the Caribbean' funded by the British Academy International Writing Workshop scheme

We have also just heard that Lala Muradova (Centre for the Politics of Feelings) and Chris Saunders (Institute of Commonwealth Studies) have been awarded British Academy Visiting Fellowships to join us at UoL.

Appointments to Peer Review panels:
Congratulations to:
Naomi Wells and Damien Short, who have become invited members of the ESRC Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs) Peer Review College
 
Ainhoa Montoya and Nóra Ní Loideáin, who are now members of the UKRI Talent Peer Review College: UKRI Talent Panel College (TPC) – UKRI

 

Research Cultures Colloquium

On the 18th January, a group of 45 colleagues from across the University met for the first of this year’s Research Cultures colloquia, part of an ongoing discussion of research culture here. A recording of the presentations is now available via this link: https://youtu.be/wCQKwZeKcXw

We heard reflections from institute directors Charles Burdett, Katherine Harloe, and Claire Langhamer on the importance of getting our culture right, and from Catherine Clarke (IHR) on her experience of moving institutions and the contrast with an academic cycle dominated by intensive teaching and administration alongside publications driven largely by the REF. Chris Daley, Research Development Manager at Royal Holloway, presented on RHUL’s Engaged Humanities Lab, which supports co-creation projects with community and third-sector partners. Participants discussed what research means to them personally (positives and negatives), how this relates to the School’s RPF mission, what can be done to promote equity and transparency in our research culture, and what a more integrated research culture in the University might look like. Overarching themes included better communication, ways to share research ideas, how personal research informs and supports RPF (and vice versa), and how sector definitions of research such as the REF are relevant to those working in London: no one disagreed with the REF definition of research as ‘a process of investigation leading to new insights, effectively shared’ or that ultimately that is what we are all aiming to undertake or support. This remains an ongoing dialogue that involves us all. The notes from the colloquium will be shared; they will include some suggestions about future events in the Research Cultures series and some options for enhancing shared understanding and practice. If you have suggestions for future events or comments about research culture, please contact Andrew Fairweather-Tall.

Timeframes for Research Funding applications

We’d like to remind colleagues of the timeframes we need to work to for Research Funding applications.

There seems to have been some confusion recently about the process and the timeframes; we hate saying ‘no’ to funding applications, but there are important (and clear) steps that we need to observe to allow us to provide a fair service to all of our colleagues:

·        All applications for research funding (projects and externally funded fellowships), no matter the amount being requested, that are made under the aegis of the University of London need to be managed by the Research Services team, and you need to involve us as soon as possible by contacting research@london.ac.uk – as a General rule:

o   For applications under £15k – a minimum of three weeks before the deadline (we’d recommend two months if possible)

o   For applications over £15k – an absolute minimum of five weeks before the deadline (we’d recommend five months if possible – particularly for ERC/Horizon applications)

·         All applications for research funding are subject to the pre-Award protocols (attached).

·        For all applications, we need all paperwork (application form, costing, ethics checks, letters of support, etc) to be complete and submitted to us a minimum of five working days before the submission deadline.

·        All of the above apply whether we are the lead or a co-applicant – in the case of being a co-applicant we will need to have everything covering your involvement ready five-working days before the lead applicant needs everything ready for their own internal process (i.e.: very possibly ten working days before the submission deadline).

We appreciate that, in rare cases, calls are made with very short deadlines, so if that’s the case, please get in touch and we can plan with you.

However, there has been an increase in applications that we receive about a week before the deadline. There have also been bids that we are told about after the application has been submitted, which is a potentially catastrophic problem in terms of oversight and risk management – this must not happen.

We appreciate all you continuing to support us by working according to the protocols – come and speak to us, our door is always open and we’re here to support your applications and awards.

I’ve also attached the Expression of Interest form, Resources Request form and Digital Outputs/Online Presence form, which we require (along with email confirmation that the relevant Institute Director has given approval to begin) to get a grant application started.

I know a lot of colleagues have been meeting with Andrew Fairweather-Tall to discuss ideas and to help flesh proposals out, please can I ask you to continue to also send proposals and paperwork to research@london.ac.uk so that we can keep track and plan ahead.

Thank you for all your hard work in putting together applications and managing awards, as well as your help in keeping this process as smooth as it can be.

 

Call for Papers: The Issue of Truth: Representing Black British History

A conference will take place at the Institute of Historical Research on 21-22 September 2023 and will be a space for contributors to interrogate the notion of ‘truth’ within histories of Black people in Britain. 

Read more

 

 

University of London Press secures funding through Jisc pilot open access initiative

The University of London Press has successfully secured funding through a new Jisc model that aims to support sustainable and affordable open access publishing.

Read more

 

 

UKRI Future Leaders Fellows: Round 8

The School of Advanced Study will soon launch its call for Expressions of Interest from suitable candidates for the latest round of the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships. We’re particularly keen in reaching candidates from as diverse a range of backgrounds as possible, as well as those who have taken different career paths and wish to move from another sector into research. Please share this call with anyone you know that might be interested and is eligible according to the scheme guidance (link above).

These awards support ambitious research or innovation across UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) remit.

You must be an early career researcher or innovator who are either:

looking to establish or transition to independence

developing their own original and ambitious plans within a commercial setting

You must be based at, and have the support of, an eligible academic or non-academic institution.

There is no minimum or maximum project cost.

Your project can last for up to 4 years, with the option to apply to renew for a further 3 years.

Once the full call documentation is available, we will update our Internal Expression of Interest page, which will be found here: https://www.sas.ac.uk/discover-our-research/externally-funded-fellowships/ukri-future-leaders-fellowships

 

 

Directory of Research and Expertise

Move to london.ac.uk domain

As announced in the December 2022 Research Newsletter, the School Directory of Research and Expertise (currently at research.sas.ac.uk) is broadening its remit not only to strengthen the visibility of SAS research but to also include all other research-active members of the University. To facilitate this, the directory has been transferred to a University of London domain research.london.ac.uk to showcase all of the research undertaken under the University of London aegis in one place.

What does this mean for SAS colleagues and projects? 


Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us via research@london.ac.uk for any further information.

Research Professional

We have an institutional subscription to Research Professional, which is an essential source of the latest news and funding opportunities. You can set up weekly alerts to send bespoke funding opportunities directly to your inbox.
 
Video guides:
Setting up your account for the first time: https://youtu.be/WBI3-p_awy4
Searching for funding opportunities: https://youtu.be/8lKmMqQapPA
 
Please contact research@london.ac.uk if you need any assistance.

*Research Professional is pleased to invite researchers to the next session in our Broadcast Demonstration series. This will take place via Microsoft Teams on the 18th April 2023 and will focus on the research funding agencies of the European Commission. The session will provide an introduction to the *Research Professional platform, demonstrate how to locate funding opportunities matching research interests, and show how to set up email alerts to stay informed of new developments.

This session will be tailored for the academics at your institution, but if you are interested in training session on administrator functionalities, please contact our Support team who will be happy to arrange this for you.

 

Funding Opportunities

Wellcome: Discovery Research Regional Events | Wellcome - Join the Wellcome Trust between March and May at one of eight visits across the UK to find out how their Discovery Research funding can support you and your ideas. They will also have a virtual visit for anyone unable to join in-person or based outside the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Cost Open call 2023: Participants are invited to submit COST Action proposals contributing to the scientific, technological, economic, cultural or societal knowledge advancement and development of Europe. Multi- and interdisciplinary proposals are encouraged.

Leverhulme Trust - Visiting Professorships - For UK institutions to invite an eminent researcher from overseas to enhance the skills and knowledge of the academic staff and/or students. Applications are invited for a minimum of £10,000 and a maximum of £150,000. 
Deadline: May (4th May 2023)
 
ERC - Advanced Grants - Are you an established, leading principal investigator who wants long-term funding to pursue a ground-breaking, high-risk project? The ERC Advanced Grant could be for you.
Deadline: May (23rd May 2023)
 
Mellon Foundation - Grant Proposals - Use link for further information.
Deadline: none but the BoT reviews applications 4 times a year (March, June, Sept and Dec)
 
ESRC - Research Grants - We award research grants to fund individuals or research teams based at research organisations eligible for UKRI funding. Grants range from £350,000 to £1 million for a period of up to five years. Funding is based on the full economic costs of the research, with ESRC providing 80% of the cost and the research organisation covering the balance.
Deadline: None
 
ESRC - New Investigator Grants - We award new investigator grants to support new researchers at the start of their careers, based at research organisations eligible for UKRI funding, to become independent researchers through gaining experience of managing and leading research projects and teams. In addition, they will provide applicants with an opportunity not only to support their own skill development, but also the skill development of research staff employed on the grant. Grants range from £100,000 to £300,000 for a period of up to five years. Funding is based on the full economic costs of the research, with ESRC providing 80% of the cost and the research organisation covering the balance.
Deadline: None
 
Heritage Lottery Fund - Various heritage grants - We provide different levels of funding to heritage of all shapes and sizes. Our grants range from £3,000 up to millions of pounds. Take a look at our various funding programmes and decide which one might be right for you.
Deadline: None


December 2022 Issue

December 22 Research Roundup

Contents

Introduction. 1

Research Cultures Colloquium.. 2

Researchfish – 2023 Submission. 3

Digital Humanities - MakerSpace. 3

Looking back on a successful year at SAS. 3

Update on UK association to Horizon Europe. 3

Case Study. 3

Research Professional 4

Funding Opportunities. 4

 

 

Introduction

 

As we rapidly approach Christmas, we’d like to thank all of our colleagues for their support and hard work over the past twelve months. There’s been a lot of change in the Research office, and our new Research Services Manager, Keji Dalemo, is the final part of the jigsaw:

Keji started on the 12th December and is based along with Jaimie and Madu in Senate House Room 220. Keji is managing the Research Services team and is responsible for our operational effectiveness and services to our academic community; she reports to Andrew Fairweather-Tall, Head of Research and Partnerships.

Keji: “I've worked in research administration for the last 12 years. I started in Higher Education within Healthcare research (primarily mental health and sexual health) and then, from 2013, moved over to the NHS to work within R&D, where I had numerous roles.

I have just left a charity that leads in the UK collection and optimisation of intensive care data from the NHS, where I have been the Clinical Trial Unit Manager for the last 3.5 years, within a Research team of approximately 20 people within which I manage 4 Research Assistants and a Research Administrator.

I'm looking forward to joining you all and re-learning about research from a Humanities and HEI perspective.

I live in southeast London, and am a cyclist.

I used to love cats and foxes until last September when I moved in a property with a garden!

I'm looking forward to meeting and working with you all.”

Christmas Hours: Sandrine Alarcon-Symonds and Jaimie Henderson are finishing on the 16th December. Keji Dalemo, Andrew Fairweather-Tall and Madu Gebermeskel will work until the University closes. The Research Office will be open again on the 3rd January 2023.

Other staff news: we'd also like to welcome:

Kimberlee Burgi, Project Administrator, Centre for Digital Humanities
Marco Dosi, Project Administrator, Centre for Digital Humanities
Paul Grimshaw, Knowledge Exchange Manager, FLF Development Network, Institute of Philosophy
Vanessa Guedes Vidal Brandao Delgado, Supervising Lawyer, UoL Refugee Law Clinic, Institute of Commonwealth Studies
George Meredith, Arts and Humanities Research Promotions Officer, Dean's Office
Peter Lin, Institute Manager, Warburg Institute
Dimitrios Skrekas, Post Doctoral Researcher, Warburg Institute
Graeme Wise, Head of Engagement and Knowledge Exchange, Dean's Office

 

Research Cultures Colloquium

 

18th January 2023 - Save the date!

Charles Burdett, Katherine Harloe, Claire Langhamer and Andrew Fairweather-Tall invite you to a Research Cultures Colloquium on 18th January 2023, in Chancellor’s Hall, Senate House.

We want to hear the ideas and points of view of everyone involved in research from across the University of London. Our starting points are apparently simple enough questions, but we think they raise multiple and complex answers that we’d like to discuss with you and colleagues.

  • ·      What does ‘undertaking research’ mean for individuals in a university with a unique mission that emphasises Research Promotion and Facilitation (RPF) alongside - perhaps even to a greater extent than - original research developed and delivered as individuals?
  • ·       What is distinctive about the University of London and School of Advanced Study’s approaches to research, in comparison to the UK university sector more broadly?
  • ·       How do we recognise and support our activities equitably and transparently?
  • ·       How do we do this while recognising we are a broad church of disciplines, which use diverse approaches and methods that produce original research, important scholarship and notable findings alongside RPF?
  • ·       And then how do we communicate and share the outputs and outcomes of all this work effectively and widely?

This is an in-person event, providing us with an opportunity to meet early in the New Year and open the conversation up with as many colleagues as possible, so we encourage everyone who can make it to attend.

Please joins us for lunch from 12:30 to meet colleagues and chat informally before we start 13:30.

We expect to finish by 4.30 at the latest.

We will provide notes on the outcomes and next steps for circulation after the event.

More details and an agenda including our speakers will be sent in due course.

We look forward to meeting you on 18th January.

 

Researchfish – 2023 Submission

For researchers with AHRC, ESRC and other UK Funding Council grants, the next submission period will run from 6 February 2023 until 16:00 on 16 March 2023. PLease contact the Research Office if you need any advice ahead of this period.

Read more here.

 

Digital Humanities - MakerSpace

Located in the School of Advanced Study at Senate House, the MakerSpace provides digital tools, equipment and support for researchers, including two 3D printers, virtual reality headsets, scanners for digitisation, photography equipment, a green screen, and more.

Read more here.

 

Looking back on a successful year at SAS

New figures reveal the extraordinary level of research support and leadership provided by the School of Advanced Study last year.

Read more here.

 

Update on UK association to Horizon Europe

Universities UK International,  the UK Science and Innovation Network and the UK Research Office in Brussels recently held a webinar to update the academic community on the latest information about UK participation in Horizon Europe and on the recent UK Government announcement about additional investment in research and innovation in view of the delay in confirming association.

You can view the recording of the webinar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mlK0vZJCFI

Read more here.

 

Case Study

Hannah Lee, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, The Warburg Institute

My postdoctoral project is called The Matter of Race in Early Modern Italy:1500-1700. Over the three years of the project, I will examine the development of constructions of race in Italy from the sixteenth to the beginning of the eighteenth century through the lens of the materials used by artists and craftsmen to depict people of African descent. Combining the resources of the Menil photographic archive at the Warburg Institute with extended periods of research in archives and museum collections in Italy, the project will explore how the use of materials such as lacquer, gold, marble and bronze can provide a unique insight into the development of early modern ideas about race, skin colour and the human body.             

The purpose of the fellowship is to develop a significant piece of publishable research and the opportunity it provides to focus on research and writing is invaluable. Throughout the course of the fellowship, my aim is to work towards developing this project into a book and to expand and strengthen my teaching experience with the hope of enhancing my prospects of securing a permanent academic post in the longer term.

 

Research Professional
We have an institutional account to Research Professional, which is an essential source of the latest news and funding opportunities. You can set up weekly alerts to send bespoke funding opportunities directly to your inbox.

Video guides:

Please contact research@london.ac.uk if you need any assistance.

 

Funding Opportunities

AHRC - Where next for arts and humanities research? - this scheme is not about ideas for individual research projects. The AHRC would like to identify the most innovative ideas which have the potential to be shaped into programmes of work and which, as with their pilot scheme, can inform the way we work in a number of different ways.

Submit a Where Next idea by completing the online form from January 2023. Submissions are accepted year-round, and you will be able to fill this in at any time from January.

AHRC - UK-German call for proposals in the humanities - Apply for funding to collaborate with German partners on arts and humanities research. Your project can address any area of the arts and humanities, including law and linguistics. Deadline: 15th February 2023


Wellcome Trust - Early Career Awards - This scheme provides funding for early-career researchers from any discipline who are ready to develop their research identity. Through innovative projects, they will deliver shifts in understanding that could improve human life, health and wellbeing. By the end of the award, they will be ready to lead their own independent research programme. Deadline: 21st February 2023

Wellcome Trust - Career Development Awards - This scheme provides funding for mid-career researchers from any discipline who have the potential to be international research leaders. They will develop their research capabilities, drive innovative programmes of work and deliver significant shifts in understanding that could improve human life, health and wellbeing. Deadline: 4th April 2023

Wellcome Trust - Discovery Awards - This scheme provides funding for established researchers and teams from any discipline who want to pursue bold and creative research ideas to deliver significant shifts in understanding that could improve human life, health and wellbeing. Deadline: 11th April 2023

The Association of Commonwealth Universities calendar of funding opportunities for 2022/2023 is now available:

The ACU provide funding for academic and professional university staff to pursue world-class research and innovative projects. They also create and fund life-changing opportunities for students around the Commonwealth.
 
Please share this calendar with anyone who you think could benefit: Download the Calendar

October 2022 Issue

Newsletter – October 2022

Contents

Introduction

 

Protocols Reminder

Staff Profiles on the Directory of Research and Expertise

Website Changes

Calendar of opportunities

Autumn term Academic Staff Development Workshops

Case Study: Philip Murphy

FLF Peer Review College (PRC) and Talent Panel College (TPC)

 

Introduction

Andrew Fairweather-Tall joined the University of London this month as Head of Research and Partnerships. He will lead the University’s research support functions, work closely with the Institutes, academic and professional services colleagues, funders and policy makers. Andrew joins from the University of Oxford where he  was Head of Research Support in the Humanities Division, leading its support services across research, knowledge exchange and innovation.

He writes:

I’m delighted to have joined the University at such an exciting time of recovery and renewal. I’ve been extremely grateful for the very warm welcome all those who’ve met me have extended so far. I am spending the next few weeks meeting as many of you as I possibly can to learn about what you are doing. I’ve already seen in the School and its institutes interesting opportunities to facilitate our collaborative networks and partnerships, and to engage in ambitious research answering really important challenges and problems. As I go around, I’m looking forward to hearing your ideas and thoughts on where you think the opportunities lie, and contributing my experience and expertise where helpful. If you would like to get in touch, send me an email: a.fairweathertall@london.ac.uk.

 

Protocols Reminder

To allow the smooth and timely submission of the strongest possible grant applications, the Research Services team follow the Pre-Award Protocols, which can be found here (intranet link). If you have any problems with the link, please contact: research@london.ac.uk

More: https://uolonline.sharepoint.com/sites/intranet-sas/SitePages/Pre-award-(application)-guidance.aspx

 

Staff Profiles on the Directory of Research and Expertise

Thank you to everyone who updated their profile on the Directory of Research and Expertise for the latest round of the SAS Data Collection exercise. We encourage all staff to keep their profiles up-to-date throughout the year.

More:

You can find more information on how to update and maintain your Directory profile here (link): please contact research@london.ac.uk if you require assistance.

 

Website Changes

Over the coming weeks you will start to see some changes with the Research Services web pages. To reflect our role as a service for the University of London, some of our pages will have a new home on the London.ac.uk domain. Don’t worry, we will still point you in the right direction!

More:

Most of you will be familiar with out SAS domain webpages at sas.ac.uk/research/ - the relevant sections regarding the Research Services team will remain here, but to better reflect our role as the University of London’s Research office, we will now host many of the policies, protocols and other pieces of information on the London.ac.uk domain. More information will follow once the changes take place.

 

Calendar of opportunities

The Calendar of Opportunities is a summary of the most common recurring funding opportunities for SAS Researchers – you can find it here (intranet link).

More: https://uolonline.sharepoint.com/:x:/r/sites/intranet-sas/Shared%20Documents/FundingOpportunitiesCalendar%20Jan%2022%20-%20Intranet.xlsx?d=w02489261d24c4e789da3c21403c902f4&csf=1&web=1&e=Vf7oEw

 

Autumn term Academic Staff Development Workshops

The university is committed to supporting the continuous professional development of SAS academics. The Learning and Development team is collaborating with academic staff and external partners to coordinate a programme of workshops throughout the year. The Autumn programme commences on 20th October and the Spring programme will be confirmed later this term.

More:

Key dates for the Autumn term

  • Academic Identity – Thursday 20th October – Kate Daubney
  • Digital Tools for the Classroom – Friday 28th October – Simon Parr and Niilante Ogunsola-Ribeiro
  • Academic Reinvention – Thursday 3rd November – Kate Daubney
  • Academic Strategic Alignment – Thursday 17th November – Kate Daubney
  • Digital Tools Collaborating and Mentoring – Wednesday 23rd November – Simon Parr and Niilante Ogunsola-Ribeiro
  • Supporting Mental Health in the Classroom – Thursday 8th December – Mark Hashimi

The attached brochure contains details of workshop contents, dates, times, and facilitator biographies. To register for a workshop all you need to do is click on the registration link, as shown in the brochure, and it will take you to our Eventbrite page. Details of the calendar are also located on the staff intranet.

If you have any enquiries please contact Learning and Development LearningDevelopment@london.ac.uk

 

Case Study: Philip Murphy

The Windrush Scandal in a Transnational and Commonwealth Context

This three-year AHRC-funded project which began in July 2021 seeks to trace the origins of the so-called Windrush scandal in which people who had entered the UK entirely legally from Commonwealth countries were threated with detention and deportation. It will follow that history back to the time of the 1962 Commonwealth Immigrants Act, when restrictions were first imposed on people trying to enter the UK from former and current British dependencies. The bid to the AHRC was facilitated by a grant from the University of London’s Convocation Trust which funded a six-month scoping project carried out by Dr Juanita Cox. This pointed to what Dr Cox has described as a longer history “of detention, deportation and denial of citizenship” which predated the so-called “hostile environment” of the Cameron coalition government. It also highlighted the significance of links between the work of the Caribbean high commissioners and the efforts of community activists to highlight the scandal.

The AHRC award has enabled a team of researchers based at the Institute of Historical Research (principal investigator Professor Philip Murphy, and research fellows Dr Juanita Cox and Dr Eve Hayes De Kalaf) and Queen Mary, University of London (co-investigator, Dr Rob Waters) to explore these issues in greater details. The team’s key objective is to develop a unique digital research resource of extended interviews on the national and diplomatic activism around the Windrush scandal, supported by digitized government documents from the British and Caribbean archives. The project is being delivered in partnership with the Black Cultural Archives (BCA) in Brixton.

The project will produce around 60 oral history interviews which will be available electronically, and a searchable database of existing oral history resources on the Caribbean diaspora communities in the UK. Alongside the production of a jointly-authored monograph and a series of refereed articles, the team will produce a number of articles for the British Library's 'Windrush Stories' website will enable the team to demonstrate the relevance of our project materials to a range of researchers, activists and policy-makers. Dr Hayes De Kalaf, a who joined the team in January 2022, has recently returned from her first research trip to the Caribbean for the project. She arrived in Jamaica immediately following the death of the Queen, and was the first person to sign the book of condolence at the residence of the British High Commissioner in Kingston.

 

FLF Peer Review College (PRC) and Talent Panel College (TPC)


The UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship team are currently holding an open recruitment for both the FLF Peer Review College (PRC) and Talent Panel College (TPC).

All the relevant information regarding the PRC and TPC, the application process and supplementary information may be found here. The closing date for applications is 4 November 2022.

If anyone is interested in putting in an application for the Peer Review College, Andrew Fairweather-Tall has said he is very happy to advise on how to meet the AHRC’s criteria. Becoming a Peer Reviewer is a great way of learning some of the elements that make for successful applications, and to reinforce or explain AHRC’s criteria in more detail. You may also get to meet a new network of like-minded colleagues from across the country - if you'd like to discuss this with Andrew, please email: a.fairweathertall@london.ac.uk

July 2022 Issue

The University of London Research Services Newsletter - Research Roundup

July 2022 Issue:

Newsletter – July 2022

Introduction

Welcome to the July issue of the UoL Research Newsletter. As we wind down another academic year and start to look ahead to another, we’d like to thank all of our colleagues for their hard work and cooperation over the past year. We hope everyone has a chance to enjoy some of the warmer weather over summer.

Table of Contents

Changes to the Research Services

Research Cultural Forum

Case Studies:

MetCong (EU-Funded)

Research Policies

Green Research Data Management

UKRI Open Access Policy (Request for Comments)

Ethics reminder

Annual Data Collection exercise

ORCiD Numbers

Pre-Award & Post-Award Protocols Reminder

Funding Opportunities

Research Professional

 

Changes to the Research Services team

The School is very pleased that we can finalise the restructure commenced in 2019 with a reorganisation of the University’s Research Services team, currently managed and situated in SAS. There are a number of changes which we hope will enhance the research function and allow ourselves to be more closely aligned to strategy.  This will be done by increasing capacity, filling vacant posts; clarifying the division of responsibilities, and playing to individual’s skillsets. Colleagues may have seen that a new role - Head of Research & Research Partnerships was advertised recently.  Interviews were held on Wednesday 27 July. Many of you attended the presentation from candidates.  Thank you to Joe Ford who chaired these.

We are pleased to say that we did agree on a preferred candidate and this will be announced shortly.

Sitting below the Head of Research post is a new post – a Research Services Manager who will manage the service and a post entitled Research Support Officer which handles grant finances. Jaimie Henderson will continue to coordinate the pre- and post-award administration as the Research Operations Officer.

A new Research Finance role is also being created and will sit within the finance department, working closely with the Research Services team, strengthening cross-departmental support. Recruitment for this role will begin shortly.

Sandrine Alarçon-Symonds, who established and ran the University Research Services since 2013, will be leading on University-wide research policies and compliance as well as business intelligence from October 2022. We thank all members of this team for their patience and hard work undertaken, and we look forward to working with enhanced resources. 

Any questions on this element of our restructure please direct them to Elaine Walters.

 

Research Culture Forum

The Research Culture Forum was established earlier this year. The Forum is led by Professor Charles Burdett and is designed to provide a space to discuss issues relating to research in the most open, enjoyable, and useful way possible.

It’s been great to see all attendees engaging with strategic and operational issues of undertaking research and everyone’s willingness to contribute, share views and make it work. The second workshop on Academic Publishing took place in early July, face to face. Another meeting is planned to be organised online for colleagues who could not attend.

If colleagues have any topic that they would like the forum to cover, please contact Jaimie at Jaimie.henderson@sas.ac.uk

Dates for your diaries will be sent out soon.

 

Case Studies

MetCong (EU-Funded)

ERC Project: Metacognition of Concepts
PI: Nicholas Shea

Nicholas Shea (Institute of Philosophy) has been leading an ERC-funded project researching the philosophy and psychology of concepts. Concepts lie at the heart of the extraordinary power of the human mind. They are the building blocks of thought, the tools with which we think. The project investigates how concepts function in cognition. It is particularly interested in the way we turn our thinking inwards, monitoring the operation of our conceptual system and reflecting on it.

The research team has carried out theoretical work on these issues, developed a series of detailed empirical hypotheses, tested them in psychological experiments, and drawn the results together into a better picture of how concept-driven thinking works.

Theoretical work has been published in several leading philosophy journals. Last year, two of the top three most downloaded papers at the leading journal in the field, Mind & Language, were outputs from the project:

Quilty-Dunn, Jake. 2021. "Polysemy and thought: Toward a generative theory of concepts." Mind & Language, 36: 158–185.

Shea, N. (2020), ‘Concept-Metacognition’, Mind & Language, 35(5), pp. 565-582.

Interdisciplinary work by the PI has been published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B (twice) and Trends in Cognitive Sciences (twice). The main experimental results were published in Cognitive Science.

Earlier this year the PI published a paper on the fast-moving field of artificial intelligence, contrasting the kinds of computations involved in the current generation of high-performing deep neural networks with the computational principles that are distinctive of human reflective intelligence.

A paper by project postdoc Jake Quilty-Dunn won the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciouness’s William James prize: Quilty‐Dunn, J. (2020) "Is iconic memory iconic?" Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 101 (3): 660-682. The prize is awarded for “the most outstanding single published contribution to the empirical or philosophical study of consciousness” published by a graduate student or postdoctoral researcher.

In public engagement, the Project put on a demonstration experiment and explained the Project to members of the public during the ‘Self-Impressions’ event at the Tate Modern gallery in London (24/03/18). 95 people took part in the demonstration, and over 1200 people visited the space and talked to researchers during the course of the day. In media coverage, the PI was interviewed for and quoted in an article in New Scientist on Difficult Concepts – Consciousness (27/6/18).

 

Research Policies

This is a gentle reminder of the University research policies, which can be viewed here: https://www.sas.ac.uk/research/research-policies-and-protocols

It’s very important that all researchers, staff, fellows and students embed these policies within their methodology and approach to undertaking research and engage with the research services if they require any support or have any questions.

To support researchers in understanding and complying with these policies, more training content is being developed and training platforms are being created. For example, to support colleagues understanding and compliant with the new Research Data Management Policy, a thorough guidance has been developed and will be shared soon. An online training platform is being developed to help visualise all the intricacies of data management in research and a toolkit which will aim to support researchers and their particular circumstances when managing research data is being created.

 

Green Research Data Management

In a vital piece of work, Dr Christopher Ohge from the Institute of English Studies is leading a working group to produce a larger ‘tool-kit’ for green digital practices in the humanities.

We look forward to sharing more resources with you in the coming months, but in the meantime, Christopher has provided the following link:

A Researcher Guide to Writing a Climate Justice Oriented Data Management Plan:

https://zenodo.org/record/6451499

 

UKRI Open Access Policy (Request for Comments)

UKRI announced its new Open Access policy in August 2021. Since then, a lot of institutions have been trying to make sense of, and operationalise, what is a dramatic change to Open Access for Journal Articles and Monographs, including UoL.

While the policy only covers UKRI-funded outputs, this is applicable to the 70% of the University’s research funding which comes from the UK Research Councils. Work has been ongoing between the Research Services, ISDT, Senate House Library, the Publication team to establish whether the University policy adopts the UKRI mandate in its entirety or adopts its own policy appropriate to its framework, while making allowance to support UKRI funded projects and their outputs to ensure compliance with the UKRI policies.

To support this investigation, the Research Services launched over month ago a survey seeking colleagues’ comments on the UKRI Open Access Policy. Specifically:

  • What difficulties have you experienced, do you currently have or envisage in the future as a result of the new UKRI policy?
  • What institutional support do you need in this area?
  • Do you understand both the University of London (internal) and funder (external) requirements when it comes to Open Access?

We’d also like to hear your comments on SAS-Space (http://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/) and its role as the institutional repository. Does it cover your needs?

Please send any comments to research@london.ac.uk – comments received will inform revisions to the University’s Open Access Policy, expected to be in place by the end of 2022.

 

Ethics reminder

This is another gentle reminder to all researchers, staff, fellows and students to ensure that research ethics approval is sought as early as possible, a minimum of 2 months before fieldwork begins, using the paperwork available here:: https://www.sas.ac.uk/research/research-policies-and-protocols/research-ethics. All travel plans must also be recorded using the travel risk assessment form, which is also appended in the ethical form and must be sent through too at research.ethics@london.ac.uk .

 

Annual Data Collection exercise

We’d like to ask all researchers to ensure that their online profiles are kept up to date and regularly maintained. Researchers’ Publications will be collected to support the annual data collection exercise of the School, which in turn will inform the performance reports submitted to Research England in the Autumn. The information collected will focus on activities and outputs undertaken between 1st August 2021 and 31st July 2022.

Colleagues are asked to ensure that their details and publications are up to date by 9th September.

Online profiles can be updated via the Directory of Research and Expertise (http://research.sas.ac.uk/). Activities, including publications, research projects, supervisions, professional affiliations, events and knowledge transfer, are expected to be publicly listed there.

If you have any open-access publications, these should be deposited on our institutional e-repository SAS-Space http://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/ and they will automatically appear on your provide on the Directory. (there is therefore no need to re-enter the output on the Directory if it is on SAS-Space.)

Please contact research@london.ac.uk if you require any assistance with the Directory. Please contact SAS-Space.Info@london.ac.uk if you have any queries regarding SAS-Space.

 

ORCiD Numbers

NEW: ORCiD Numbers are now a mandatory requirement for your Directory profile.

The ORCiD number is used as a unique identifier for academic authors and contributors. It’s becoming a mandatory requirement for an increasing number of funders, and it allows both us as a host institution, and you as a researcher, keep track of the publications and outputs that you produce during your career.

On the Directory of Research and Expertise this is now a mandatory field, which is recorded in the third box of the ‘Publications’ section of your record, under ‘SAS-Space Integration’.

If you haven’t already registered for an ORCiD number, you’ll need to log in to https://orcid.org/register and sign up. In order to register you just need to enter your first name, surname and email address; it’s incredibly straight forward – but please contact Jaimie at Jaimie.henderson@sas.ac.uk  if you’re having problems.

 

Pre-Award & Post-Award Protocols Reminder

You can find the University of London Pre- and Post-Award Protocols here. These provide the process and timeframe for putting together an application (and outlining the expectations of both Researchers and the Research Services team), and the next steps for a successful award.

Tips:

  • Everything we need to know is in the scheme/call guidance produced by the Funder.
  • Directorial approval and the Dean/PVC’s approval will first be sought in principle before any substantial work can begin and will then be reconfirmed once the proposal is ready to submit, five working days before the deadline.
  • Financial viability on all grants will be reviewed before a final comprehensive risk assessment of the project will be undertaken.
  • It is important to think of all resources, including digital, and their sustainability beyond the end of the project;
  • Collaboration does require due diligence and clarity of share of responsibility, legal, operational, financial. Their own internal approval processes may need to be taken into account.
  • All of this takes time. Depending on the size of the award, we may need to begin the process about 4 months ahead of the submission deadline (for larger grants) and a minimum of five weeks (in the case of the smallest grants);
  • Any question, just contact the research services.

 

Funding Opportunities

The current funding opportunities can be found here:

For any calls that are managed by the Research Services at institutional level, Institute Directors must be contacted directly, CCing research@london.ac.uk

 

Research Professional

The University has an institutional subscription to Research Professional which has up-to-date news on the Research landscape and a broad listing of funding opportunities. Select ‘School of Advanced Study’ from the drop-down list and log in using your ‘firstname.surname’, and usual SAS password. Email research@london.ac.uk for assistance.